Catechized: Confessions & Reflections (5)

Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one? A. There is but one only, the living and true God.

Many good conversations can begin with contemplation or questions about God and His nature. What does nature reveal about Him? What do men reveal about Him? Ecclesiastes wrestles with these questions, as do many of the Psalms. Our tendency is to rely upon our senses to engage reality – to live our the argument of our philosophy (whether we realize we are a living argument or not) from inward to outward.

Considering this question in a meaningful way helps us to begin in the right place in all our musings: with the One God, and His character, His words.

I understand the popularity of the current so-called atheism like I understand the drive for quicker, faster technology in our handheld devices: while requiring no real effort, we at once feel stronger, more powerful, in control. We aren’t, of course, and in our more honest moments we know we aren’t. The iPhone [insert current model number] does not make you more powerful, or more smarter, or more anything. Except stressed, probably. And in the same way, the cry “there is no God!” does nothing to solve the problems of either society or the individual. If anything, it makes real answers impossible to find. The absence of a source of absolute, foundational Truth within the universe would logically eliminate any meaningful conversation about the validity of one worldview over another. And yet look at the anger of the typical atheist, particularly as it is aimed toward religion, and you will discover truth:

Their words say “there is no God.” Their vehemence says “I am mad at him.” And we must embrace the atheist around us, living with them in grace and truth, for such were we, in every meaningful way, prior to the Spirit’s quickening us to Life. But understand the real conversation is never about whether or not God exists. It’s about the devastating consequences of sin, where the blame lies, and what the solution is. That’s the real issue.

Romans 1 gives us a good understanding of even the most irreligious culture. All men know there is a God. Both from within, and from the constant witness of the reality in which they live. Denying and suppressing this truth, they seek out something else to worship, for worship they must. They were made for it. We call this worship of anything else, idolatry.